The present invention relates to a rear vehicle-body structure of a vehicle equipped with a rear end trim, in particular, to a rear vehicle-body structure of a vehicle, in which a rear end member has at a middle portion thereof an opening which opens upward for engagement with a rear end trim.
Conventionally, a rear end portion of a vehicle comprises a rear end panel forming a rear wall and a rear end member forming a closed cross section cooperatively with the rear end panel. A synthetic-resin-made rear end trim is provided to cover a surface of a front side of the rear end member in order to improve appearances and values of goods and restrain damages of articles loaded in a baggage compartment.
According to a tail end member trim structure of an automotive vehicle disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 11-170925, a rear end member has a hole which longitudinally penetrates a front vertical wall portion thereof, and a tail end member trim (a rear end trim) is attachable to the rear end member by a clip to be inserted into the hole for engagement.
Developments of improving aerodynamic characteristics of a vehicle have been recently conducted to improve the fuel economy (gas mileage) and the like. In the event of traveling air flowing down below a vehicle body hitting against a spare tire pan, the flow of the traveling air is disturbed so that the traveling resistance of the vehicle may improperly increase, thereby deteriorating the fuel economy. Therefore, it is known to decrease the amount of downward projection of the spare tire pan in order to improve the fuel economy. Herein, the smaller the amount of downward projection of the spare tire pan is, the larger the amount of upward projection, i.e., toward the inside of the baggage compartment, of a spare tire stored in the spare tire pan is. Therefore, a loading space of the articles in the baggage compartment may improperly decrease, thereby deteriorating the space efficiency of the baggage compartment.
In general, since the spare tire pan is arranged close to the rear end member forming an edge portion of an opening portion of the baggage compartment in order to allow a passenger to easily take out a spare tire of the spare tire pan, the distance between the rear end member and the spare tire pan is set to be as small as possible. Therefore, in a case in which the spare tire projects greatly toward the inside of the baggage compartment, the spare tire is arranged such that it is close to and faces to the opening of the rear end member for attaching the rear end trim. In the tail end member trim structure of an automotive vehicle disclosed in the above-described patent document, since the clip is inserted into the opening of the rear end member longitudinally from the front to the rear, some space for moving (attaching) the rear end trim in this direction may be required to be formed in front of the rear end member.
Further, in a case in which the rear end trim formed integrally with an engaging hook is attached, the rear end trim is fixed to the rear end member by moving the rear end trim in a curve shape from obliquely-forward above to obliquely-downward below relative to the opening of the rear end member, thereby inserting the above-described hook into the opening of the rear end member. That is, in the case of the rear vehicle-body structure with the spare tire projecting greatly toward the inside of the baggage compartment, the opening of the rear end member and the spare tire are arranged such that these two are close to each other and face to each other. Accordingly, there is a concern that the spare tire may improperly block an area in front of the opening of the rear end member, so that any sufficient space for moving the rear end trim longitudinally may not be ensured, like the above-described structure disclosed in the patent document.
Herein, it may be considered that the spare tire pane is located at a forward position in the baggage compartment to ensure the above-described sufficient space. In this case, however, an easy operation of the passenger for taking out the spare tire may be deteriorated. Moreover, since not only the spare tire but also other articles, such as a jack, are loaded in the baggage compartment of the vehicle in many cases, there is a concern that even in a case in which the above-described articles are loaded in front of and close to the rear end member, the above-described problem of the space for attaching the rear end trim may occur.